Saginaw's Past
Contact me if you know where this was located or if you have any memories to share about this place on this page.
Hello Carol,
My name is Mike Timmons. I bartended at the Amerwood for about nine
months
in 1973 - 74. By that time the private club had moved elsewhere
(safter
neighborhood) and it was reopened as a jazz club. The owners, Jerry &
Al,
had recieved some sort of grant money for being a minority business
(they
were both black) and tried to open it as a "jazz club that would
transcend
the races." It wound up being an almost entirely black bar with Gwen,
Jerry's secretary, me and a few others being white. It was quite an
experience! They pulled in some pretty popular jazz acts from that
era. I
remember one was a man named
Grant Green,
whom I'd never heard of, but
everyone was excited about having him perform.
We had a black head bartender named Willie, who was very well known in
the
neighborhood and quite a character. I remember the creative excuses he
made
for drinking so much on the job. We also had quite a collection of
customers. Jerry & Al had hoped their jazz acts would attract
executive
customers from GM, Dow Chemical and other large companies in the area.
Mostly we served the upper-class black; white faces were very rare. I
remember the unusual drinks they would order. Cognac was very popular,
as
was expensive Scotch and milk! Thanks for the photo of the club. I
remember it looking a bit different when we had it, but not too much
so.
Best regards,
Mike Timmons
Frankfort, IL